UN’s Rwanda and ex-Yugoslav tribunals flag challenges as mandates near end

The top officials of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia today outlined a number of challenges to their work, ranging from the health of the defendants to the “daunting” task of trying to relocate those acquitted or who have already served their sentences.

Theodor Meron, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, told the Security Council that the health of accused individuals and staff attrition had caused delays in some cases. The so-called Residual Mechanism is mandated to take over and finish the remaining tasks of both tribunals once their mandates expire.

But Mr. Meron said: “By the end of this year, the forecasts provided by presiding Judges indicate that the ICTY will have completed its work on all but two trials and two appeals.”

“While various cases have suffered delays, these can each be counted as a matter of months, and the last cases are still expected to be completed in 2017, as predicted in the ICTY's previous forecasts,” he said.

Mr. Meron also reassured Council members that ”when the history of the ICTY is written, it is this legacy, not limited delays in projected delivery dates, that will be remembered and, I believe, celebrated.”

ICTY Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said the countries of the former Yugoslavia continued to cooperate with the Office and to respond, as needed, to requests for assistance. This included, on high-profile cases, joint arrest operations conducted by the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

Mr. Brammertz also said the trial judgments of former Serbian leader Vojislav Seselj and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic are “estimated to be delivered later this year.”

The President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Vagn Joensen, said the Appeals Chamber had completed its work with respect to all appeals from the trial judgments, with the exception of Nyiramasuhuko et al. – or the Butare case – concerning six persons and that the formal closure of the Tribunal is still expected to occur before the end of 2015.

He also drew attention to “the very troubling issue of relocating the acquitted and convicted released persons still residing in Arusha,” the Tanzanian city where the Tribunal is based.

“The issue of relocation remains a daunting one and the challenges that the ICTR has faced with relocating these persons, some of which have been residing in a UN safe house for over a decade, have been brought to this Council's attention on numerous occasions,” he said.

Hassan B. Jallow, the Prosecutor of the Rwanda Tribunal and of the International Residual Mechanism for both courts, said the Mechanism Office of the Prosecutor continued to take over functions from the Rwanda and former Yugoslavia Tribunals.